


Royalty and Rebellion

by cyberspacedout



Category: Be More Chill, Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe- Fantasy, I’m trying my best lmao, Jeremys a prince, Kidnapping, M/M, Michael’s a rebel, Mind Control, More tags to be added, Princes, Rebel Groups, Royalty and Rebellion AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-06-14
Packaged: 2020-01-15 17:13:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18503425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cyberspacedout/pseuds/cyberspacedout
Summary: Michael once planned on being a knight, or something that cool, but that soon changed as he saw the kingdom wasn’t all it promised, after a certain incident, he becomes a rebel.Jeremy is the Prince of Middleborough, but to everyone, well, nobody even knows his name. All he wants is for things to be okay, is that too much to ask?When a rebel mission goes unexpectedly, a power hungry advisor is put in complete control, and truths are told, will Michael and Jeremy get their happily ever afters?





	1. The Rebel

Michael Mell always thought he’d end up something cool, like being a knight, defending the kingdoms honor fighting for a good cause. Well at least part of that dream was fulfilled.

Did he fight for a good cause? Yeah. Cool? Totally! Defending the kingdom? Quite the opposite actually.

The more he grew up the more his Knight dreams faded, he saw the royals for as they really were, a bunch of lazy self entitled assholes. King Heere never left the castle, still saddened about the sudden departure of the queen, years before, but really who could blame her, Michael had heard the king doesn’t even put on pants around the castle. If he can’t do anything for himself, then you could imagine what good he was to the kingdom. His son, the prince, had not been heard of in years, a mystery. His advisor, a man named Samuel Quincy Ulysses Ilyia Peterson ( Seriously, how much more pretentious could they get?), nicknamed Squip, was the worst of them, he went off seeking power and raiding small kingdoms, claiming teenagers as young as him for soldiers. He kept taking and taking from his own kingdom too, raising taxes so much until people gave themselves up to servitude. He was the most feared man in all of the known world, and the king was completely oblivious.

Michael’s mothers had raised him in a small community on the outskirts of town, where luckily, Squip tended to ignore. He grew up with a few friends, but was especially close with Richard Goranski They’d developed the same experience, slightly teenage angst, fueled anger for their own kingdom. Naturally, they went around trying to destroy it, causing minor inconveniences and chaos everywhere.

That all changed the day Squip showed up.

They were robbing a carriage, planning on distributing the money inside back to the people, true vigilante style when someone had showed up right behind them. A man in solid black armor, electric blue eyes, and shaggy yet menacing looking black hair. 

“Huh, I was starting to think he was some old legend up until now.” Rich said, cracking a smile.

That was the last joke he’d ever heard Rich say. In what felt like seconds Squips forces were on them, a swarm, like beetles and armor clicking and clashing and suffocating. A pained scream was heard. Squip had Rich pinned against a tree, struggling against his grasp. Michael tried to reach him, but he was only shoved by more soldiers, they really were his age, but something in their eyes was gone, like all of their personality, fear, everything was gone from their faces. Rich was on the ground now, desperately crawling away as Squip watched. He looked at Michael, to a soldier, and back to Michael.

“Find Jake for me.” He mouthed, and he got up suddenly, Michael now realizing his plan. The woman was holding a torch, which was snatched away and thrown on the ground. Being surrounded by trees and a wooden carriage, Squips army scattered, smoke billowed up around him, Rich was nowhere in sight. Michael fought against the smoke, 

“Rich! Rich where are you?!” He half coughed, half yelled. the smoke grew thicker, and his lungs felt heavy. It wasn’t very long before he collapsed.

Michael woke up in a small cabin, disoriented, with burnt clothes and a woman named Jenna. She introduced herself as the communicator for a group of rebels against the Squip. Turns out her friend Chloe has saved him. Chloe came in a few moments later, and even her clothes screamed badass to him.

“I saw what happened back there, and id like to offer you a position in our rebellion. I understand that-“  
“I do it, Michael said, cutting her off. He’d heard enough, and any opportunity he’d get to avenge Rich, or at least finish what he started, was enough. 

“Well that was easy, welcome to the team. What was your name again?”

And just like that he’d had been accepted to a whole underground group of rebels and assassins, working to overthrow the kingdom, from the inside and out. 

So yeah, that brought him to now climbing the stone walls of the prince’s tower, pretty cliche if you asked him. 

Most of the people in the rebellion agreed they needed some sort of leverage against the Squip, beating him at his own game. They decided they needed something to get the king motivated to make some sort of action, and technically since he had power over Squip, he would divert Squips attention to their stunt. What stunt you may ask? 

Kidnapping the Prince.

“I know! I know it sounds crazy but trust me on this one okay?” he had asked at one of the “board meetings” they set up, a leader from every section of the rebellion. Michael has been chosen as overall mission leader, as he was getting really good at planning out attacks and other missions. 

It took a bit of convincing, but he won them over, obviously. 

The courtyard of the place was quiet, no longer filled with the clashing of armor that was proceeded it, the rest of the group had tackled the guards and took out their messenger, making Michael a complete ghost. 

“Rich would’ve loved this,” he thought. Just the internal mention of Rich had sparked his brief moment of sadness into a newfound energy, using that to quickly reach the window, (An open one, thankfully.) and silently climb in. He scanned the room for movement, he noticed a small body, curled up on the soft, rich blue bed, chest slowing rising and falling as they slept. He crept around the floor, careful not to knock over the various stacks of books that littered the room. As he came up around the edge of the bed, his breath hitched a little seeing this prince that no one had ever heard from. 

Holy shit, the prince was pretty.

And not just in like, normal standards, as in Michael’s heart would stop beating if he asked it too. Straight up, the legends and fairy tales he’d heard around town, worthy pretty. The prince was like a porcelain doll, pale, his skin spotted with freckles, almost like tiny constellations. In the light of the window, his curly hair reflected with almost a golden color. His lips were parted slightly as he breathed. He sighed, why did all the cute ones have to be his targets? What’s next, pretty eyes? He shook himself off, he couldn’t be here admiring the prince when his rebellion depended on it, and he tried to remind himself that these are bad peoples, so the prince couldn’t be much better. 

Michael decided on the best way to approach this, the less the prince struggled, the better. He uncovered the blankets covering the boy and scooped him into his arms like a bride. It would be tough getting down this way, luckily he brought some rope. He should’ve been able to just shimmy his way down the side of the tower. But just then, the prince stirred in his arms, mumbling a bit, it was time to wrap this up. 

There was a crash, a stack of books Michael had knocked over in his hurry. They prince opened his eyes, damn it he does have pretty eyes. The prince blinked a few times before his eyes widened, his breathing picked up, and he screamed.


	2. The stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow okay I didn’t think so many people would like this haha, well enjoy chapter 2!

Jeremy was the prince of Middleborough, or rather the nothing of Middleborough. Nobody bothered to learn his name growing up, his mom making sure he was addressed as “Your highness”, as much as he resisted. 

It wasn’t much different when she left however, his dad never wore pants and never did his duties as king, and just let his advisor do whatever.

So when his trusted “advisor” suggested that Jeremy be kept isolated in a princess tower, who would’ve guessed it would become reality. Squip made sure little people knew the prince was even alive at this point, nobody learned his name, he was just some kid a few people were assigned to keep alive.

Squip said it was because Jeremy needed to be protected, people the outside world was dangerous, that he only cared for Jeremy’s safety. The few times he did see him, he definitely was intimidating, but then again, he knew nothing about him, and if he cared about Jeremy, he certainly couldn’t be that bad of a guy.

Jeremy could never leave the tower, even if he tried. (And he did, Squip always having to rescue him from his own escape attempts.) Jeremy was taught in the castle, by a teacher the Squip claimed to hire. His whole life happened within these walls, practically useless, hidden away from the world. 

There was some good in the castle though, one of the servants, named Christine and one of the guards, Jake. Christine was technically his maid, but he never treated her as such. He picked up after himself and instead they spent their time together reading through plays and stories, acting them out together. It was nice to pretend he was someone, somewhere else than the kingdom. For a long time, Christine was his only company, until Jake came. 

Jake arrived suddenly, like most new guards do, but there was always something different about his behavior. He seemed more, sentient, than the others, seeming to be resisting something all the time. One day, him and Christine were acting out Romeo and Juliet, so they got a cup with the closest thing that looked like poison to them. Y’know for that scene when Juliet poisons herself. Jeremy had no idea what was in it, but it seemed to do something, because they accidentally spilled it on Jake on their way back. Jake screamed, collapsed, and woke up a few minutes later extremely disoriented. He kept asking for his boyfriend, and once he realized Jeremy was the prince and what probably had happened to him, he immediately stopped telling them about his past. He guessed it was simply Squip’s orders, but since then, he seemed to have more emotion, and he’d stop resisting whatever he was resisting, if that even made any sense. Christine and Jeremy would drag him around on whatever fun they were having, sometimes being the third character in whatever play they were reenacting. When Jake asked Jeremy to make him his personal guard he was so excited, and gave Jake all the tome off he needed, although he never looked rested whenever he came back. He didn’t question it though, feeling he owed Jake that privacy that few of Squip’s officers got. In return, Jake promised to protect him from whatever came along. It wasn’t like there was anything to protect him from anyway though, just the usual quiet staff that he’d rarely see. 

You could imagine his surprise when he woke up in a complete stranger’s arms.

Jeremy was sleeping, tired after listening to another one of Christine’s rants about some playwright. Typical, what wasn’t typical was how he woke up.

He heard something fall over, still half asleep, he shifted a little, but when his head moved, it hit something...warm? He didn’t feel like he was in his bed, weird. He felt arms under him. He blinked a couple times, his vision clearing up, and was facing the moonlit face of a stranger. He wore a bandana, and a pair glasses that reflected the dim light back at him. Point was, this complete stranger was holding him next to his window, with rope dangling outside it. 

Naturally, Jeremy screamed. The man holding him was surprised, giving him the moment to scramble of out of his arms, onto the floor and make a run for it. He rushed out of the room, the man grumbling something and following.

“JAKE! CHRISTINE! GUARDS!” he yelled, speeding down the hall. It was quite dark at night, but weirdly, Jeremy couldn't see anyone, adding to his panic. There’s always guards outside his door, or at least he thought. His heart was racing, he heard the man running behind him, but he didn't dare look back. Turning corners, hoping to lose the stranger, reminding himself he just had to make it to door at the end of the hallway that connected the tower to the rest of the castle. “Where is everyone?” he thought frantically, this dude really had to pick today to attempt to kill him? Wait- oh God, this guy was trying to kill him, exactly what Squip warned him about. This couldn’t get any worse could it? 

The door wouldn’t budge.

So it could get worse! 

“Nononono please! Open up! Guards!” he should’ve known the door would've been locked, he was stupid, stupid- 

The footsteps had stopped, what the hell? Did he leave? Did assassins just leave like that? Okay, okay what could he use as a weapon?? Jeremy didn’t even know how to fight, Squip never allowed him to learn. Jeremy was breathing heavily now, he collapsed onto his knees in front of the door. He saw a shadow behind him, tall and silent, this was it wasn’t it? He turned around to look at the attacker, still really hard to see in the dark. _Okay Jeremy, breathe, remember what Squip taught you, be threatening, assertive. Even if he did see you scream and run for help. ___

__Jeremy got up on shaking legs, summoning every last bit of courage he had, which wasn’t much. “Who are you? What do you want and w-what are you doing in this castle?” he said, his stutter showing through a little._ _

__“All of this has been about what your family wants, what that insufferable bastard Squip wants, well I say it’s time to make some changes around here, it’s time for what the people want, your highness.” he said coldly. Jeremy stiffened at the title. He must’ve practice this._ _

__“And what do they want?”_ _

__“A revolution, and I’m afraid you’re the catalyst.” you could practically see the smirk underneath the bandana on his face._ _

__Jeremy paled, these people hated Squip? Now he was leverage, what could he possibly have done to anger them so much? He made another move to run, but was grabbed harshly by the arm and was pinned against the mans chest. He was thrashing and squirming until a dagger was at his throat, shining and sharp as hell._ _

__“I really am sorry, but we can do this the easy way or the hard way. You’re coming with me, now you can follow like a good little prince, or you can struggle and go down semi honorably, but with a lot more bruises.” he couldn't tell if it was sarcasm, actual pity, or he was serious. Maybe it was a mixture of the three. Either way, there was no point fighting he realized, his heart dropped as he said_ _

__“Very well, do as you wish.”_ _

__Jeremy was pushed forward, the man following him with the dagger. They went back to his room, where the window remained open, the night was silent, only the buzzing of insects and wind filling the silence. He took a deep breath, _this is it, you may never come back, never see Jake or Christine agin, possibly to be tortured by rebels, maybe_ __

__

__

__His thoughts were interrupted by a “Let’s go”_ _

__“There are guards right below us, you’re asking to get caught.”_ _

__“Ever wondered how I got here in the first place? Now hurry up and get down there.”_ _

__Jeremy swallowed as he got the rope in his hands, climbing on the windowsill and looking down. Nope nope nope, that was a bad idea. He froze, before he heard an impatient sigh and was in his now captors arms again. Well arm, one holding him, another holding the rope. Jeremy’s arms linked around his neck instinctively, before they were basically thrown over the side of the tower, the sky flashing past them upwards. He bit back a scream as they fell, not wanting to anger the guy who literally had his life in his hands. It was brighter outside, he opened his eyes to get a better look at him. His hair was thick and unruly, and he had dark skin, surprisingly handsome? It was then they hit the ground with a thud, Jeremy not letting go._ _

__“Ahem” he said, oh right, Jeremy detached himself from the man. And w h o a. He was outside. An indescribable feeling of fear and excitement washed over him. He was free, he was standing on grass, he was-_ _

__Being kidnapped, that’s what he forgot for a moment. He was suddenly swarmed by a few other people, in similar red colored clothing. They immediately restrained him with rough rope and he was tossed in the back of a wagon. The group cheered and celebrated, coming up to the man who had captured him and congratulating him. From what he could pick up, he was their leader. Jeremy looked back at the shrinking image of the castle, knowing things will never be the same. When he reverted his attention back to his captors, the leader was staring at him, but not with pride, but with guilt._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for your support on the last chapter! Sorry this ones up so late! Leave your comments, questions, and concerns below


	3. The Basement

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhh hi! It’s me again haha, sorry for the wait and thank you for your patience! This chapter is a little boring and short, but I wanted to put something out while I make some better ones.

Michael rode back to the base in mostly silence, every couple minutes glancing at the prince, who had avoided looking at his crew, fixated on the trees and everything they passed. This was a huge success, but he felt....weird? Maybe it was concern in the back of his mind that Squip could have their heads for this. The thrill made it all the more fun though didn’t it? He tried to make sense of his feelings as they arrived at a large tree. He knocked three times before a panel of the wooden tree. A door, unnoticeable before, slid open. 

“Please tell me you got him.” Chloe said, leaning against the doorway.

“We got him.” Michael grinned proudly, shifting so Chloe could see the others coming down from the wagon, waking the prince from his daze up by pulling him up roughly, and untying the ropes on his legs so he could walk, his arms kept behind his back. 

Chloe visibly relaxed, “Good job Mell, bring him inside, the crowds getting antsy.”

They descended down a set of stairs, into a dim basement sort of building, only much larger. It was lit up by a series of torches on the walls. It was like a hive down there, people moving fast, multiple hallways leading to this room in the center. People were hunched over maps and tables, others seeming to be taking a break and chatting with the others. The base was buzzing with nervous energy, but as soon as Chloe showed up, Michael and his crew in town, cheers sounded all throughout. People came up to Michael, patting him on the back and congratulating him on making the rebellions biggest move ever. He was allowed to at least feel a little good about it right? Right. He watched Dustin, who was holding a terrified looking prince. Some of the members got up and yelled at him, whistled, cursed, intimidating him. The prince looked on the verge of tears, and honestly, he understood. As much as he told himself he was supposed to hate this guy, Michael still had morals. 

“Alright guys you’ve had your fun, Dustin, bring him to the holding room” Those surrounding them protested, but quickly silenced themselves seeing the serious expression on his face. 

“Time for a field trip Princey.” Dustin teased, before pushing him forward. 

“Okay! Everyone else, head back to your rooms and rest up, the sun is rising in a couple hours and you’ll need to be rested once the king finds out his son is missing in the morning.” The group dispersed, walking off in their respective directions. He spotted Chloe lingering, “Hey, what’s on your mind?”

“It’s nothing, I just wanted to go have a definite plan before I head over to bed. If you’re up to it.”

“Yeah sure, it’s a good idea anyway, I have no idea when palace people wake up so the sooner we know how to play this the better.”

Jenna suggested they let the castle find the prince missing, and let word spread before making their next move. People would loose faith in the Royals, “How dare they be so careless with their sole heir to the throne?”, and Squip would spend at least half his time convincing the villagers he’d find the prince. Meanwhile, they would try to get whatever information they could out of him. It was pretty smart. By then, it was really late, and they all headed off to their rooms. 

Michael’s room was small, as everyone else’s, but it was better than the bunks the newbies had to stay in. The walls were lined with rough stone, and there was a small bed in the corner, a few crates stacked next to it, and a red carpet was on the floor. Michael liked sitting on the floor for some reason, it helped him think.

Michael lied down on the bed, taking off his glasses and setting them on the crates, he looked up at the empty ceiling, thinking about what they had done. Thinking about the Squip. Maybe, maybe he was thinking about how attractive the Prince was.

_Agh Michael no stop, you cannot have feelings for a dude who does nothing for the kingdom, nothing to stop Squip, and is your hostage._

_But then again, you only just met him right?_

_No! Your mission is to use him as leverage then throw him right back to where he came from. ___

__Michael tossed and turned, his thoughts keeping him awake a while longer, before exhaustion overpowered them, and he fell asleep._ _

__

__Jeremy was terrified, to say the least._ _

__Everything caught up to him all at once when they arrived, his arms hurt from behind him for so long. He caught sight of the door he was about to be shoved through. He swallowed hard, it was inside of a tree, with stairs. They were going underground, and any hopes of Squip finding him first vanished. The leader chatted with a woman in the doorway, if looks could kill, well maybe she didn’t need her looks to kill. Jeremy thought about running, but then saw the guy a few feet away from him, who was maybe twice his size. They descended into a dim and dusty room, where people came up to his captors and congratulated them. As soon as they caught sight of Jeremy, people crowded. _So many people _, he thought. They were laughing, taunting, some saying such awful things, his skin crawled and it was all too much. He had never felt so helpless. He avoided their gaze, staring at the ground trying to keep his composure.___ _

____“Alright guys you’ve had your fun, Dustin, bring him to the holding room.”_ _ _ _

____Jeremy looked up, it was the leader, the one who came to him in the castle. He was surprised he wasn’t laughing too. His momentary relief faded when the man holding his arms pushed him down another dark corridor. The torches didn’t do much. They arrived at a metal door. Jeremy was let go while the man, Dustin he presumed, took out a ring of keys and unlocked the door. Jeremy stepped forward into the doorway, Dustin undid his ropes and nudged him further so he was inside._ _ _ _

____“Well my Prince, these are your accommodations, I hope they are up to your standards.” Dustin spoke in a fake, overly posh accent, before cackling loudly and swinging the door shut._ _ _ _

____Jeremy stood in the center of the room, still in shock. He looked around in the dark, some light streaming in from the small barred window in the door. There was a sack of hay in one corner and on the wall opposite some tough metal chains. He was thankful they hadn’t decided to restrain him here. The walls and floor were lined with stone, so there was no way to dig himself out either. He backed into the corner and sat on the sack. Jeremy was....conflicted. This was his first taste of the outside world, but then again he just went from one cell to another. He was alone, truly alone with no chance of rescue, stuck in this hell until they’ve had enough of him. What could these people possibly want with Squip? And what had he done to make them so angry? Reminding himself he was alone, Jeremy did what he did to sleep anyway. He curled up in his corner, and hummed himself to sleep._ _ _ _


	4. The others

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! It’s me again, thank you all for your comments, kudos, and patience. And new perspective! Surprise!

It was a bit before sunrise when Christine was woken by commotion in the halls of the servants quarters. Guards rushed by, stopping in rooms and searching for something, then coming right out again. Servants scurried nervously, some huddling and talking quietly. She stepped outside, determined to find what had everyone up so early. 

“Wha-“ she slurred a bit. She spotted Jake pacing in the hall among the chaos. “Jake!” she yelled “What’s going on?” 

He turned to face her, before taking a breathe and saying, “The prince is missing.” 

“WHAT?” Someone flinched, if Christine wasn’t awake before, she certainly was now. Her heart skipped a beat and her head spun as she let the words sink in. There was no way, castle security was too tight, he couldn’t have escaped on his own. How could he have managed to escape? Unless, he didn’t. “How did he get past the night guards?” she asked.

“He didn’t, someone else did.” Oh no, oh no, that was much worse. 

“You don’t mean-“ The look in Jake’s eyes finished her thoughts for her. Someone had taken out the guards, and taken Jeremy. 

“Squip has his forces scanning every inch of the kingdom, we only found a rebel arrow in one of the guards. There’s supposed to be a bigger meeting later, but I can’t help but think our rebels aren’t in town anymore.” He was trying to keep his guard up, but there was something else in his tone. 

“Well that rules out Jeremy having rebel friends and going willingly.”

“We both know Jeremy doesn’t have friends other than us, by the amount of interaction he’s had with people, I’d say his social skills are lacking. Agh,” he groaned in frustration, “ I’m worried Christine, there’s no doubt Squip’s teachings worked against him with the rebels.” He was a prince who didn’t know self-defense, what were they thinking?

The guards had finished checking their wing of the castle, and another one came in and announced Squip wanted all soliders to meet him in the grand dining room. That was Jake’s cue to go, when Christine put her hand on his arm.

“I’m coming with you” She sounded determined, there was Christine at it again with her passionate spirit.

“No, you can’t. They’ll stop you the second you get there, they don’t want this information leaking to the rest of the servants.”

“I would never tell a soul! Please Jake, Jeremy’s my friend and I’d be damned if some rebel caught him. Who knows what’s he’s going through? He has done so much for the both of us, I can’t just ignore that. ” Her voice dropped to a whisper as he leaned closer to him, “And you Squip won’t be as lenient with us as he was, so wherever you go and disappear to everyday, whatever you’re doing is in trouble. The sooner we find him the better.” She wasn’t stupid, she saw Jeremy let him sneak off everyday, doing who knows what.

Jake looked conflicted, before sighing and giving up. “Okay fine, come with me.”

They walked quickly to the main part of the castle, as they filed in, a man at the door stopped them. His voice was empty and commanding, his eyes dull.

“Miss, you aren’t allowed to be here”  
“She’s with me, she’s the prince’s maid, she could be useful in the meeting.”

“I am not authorized to let you in, you must-“ he was cut off by the Squip himself. He stood tall, calm in his black armor, his eyes met that of the guard, who jolted and stood at attention once more. 

“It’s alright, let them in, I assume you both know the situation at hand. I thank you for volunteering yourself for this investigation. You may enter with Sir Dillinger.” His voice felt like cool mint to Christine’s ears, it was laced with something, but it made her all the more eager to step inside the dining room. It was crowded with people, guards and knights, everyone Squip could get his hands on. Most were standing silently, eyes glazed over, a few made quiet conversation. Christine has never noticed how young most of them were, her and Jeremy’s age, she had wondered if they were even allowed to volunteer at this age. Jake held her hand protectively, probably since it would be easy to lose her in here. She rocked on her heels impatiently. Everyone was quiet when Squip walked in. The man at the door pulled the two doors shut behind him. 

“Hello everyone, I apologize for the suddenness of this meeting. But you’ve been searching all morning and you all know our Prince has gone missing. It is with great concern that I added you here today. Due to certain clues and recollections of those on night duty, we’ve come to the conclusion that his highness has been captured by rebels, and was taken by force late last night.” The soliders were tense, but did not speak. He continued, “As of now I am ordering you to keep this information hidden from the townspeople, he mustn’t worry them. I will be sending a few troops to scour the lands for any sign of him, a few will go to neighboring kingdoms, see if they’ve seen him. The rest will stay here in case he returns and prepare for the moment this news breaks loose. Maid Canigula, when was the last time you were in contact with the Prince?” He turned to look at Christine.

“Just before sundown, sir” she kept her head bowed to look at the floor.

“All other servicemen and women left around the same timeframe, so it is unclear at what time of night they left, and how far they could’ve gotten.”

“My excellency, I was wondering actually, if you could put me on one of the scouting missions. I’m sure Sir Dillinger would take me. I am quite experienced as a nurse.” 

He looked surprised that she was going through with it, but he didn’t seem to mind. “Very well, Sir Dillinger, she will be added to your patrols during the Prince’s absence. “

Jake gave her a look that said ‘Are you insane?’, she was perfectly sane thank you very much. “Yes Sir.”

He continued to discuss strategies and gave each group an assignment. Jake and Christine were on forest patrol. He pulled her aside in the armor room, it was strange Squip had agreed to let her come along, especially when she had little experience with fighting. Perhaps a nurse didn’t need armor, but he wasn’t letting her get killed on his watch. 

“Why are you doing this?”

“I want our friend back, simple.”

“You’re going to get yourself killed before we find him.”

“You’re underestimating me.”  
“I’m only saying you don’t have experience in the battlefield.”

“It’s only a patrol Jake, I’ll survive. Think of it as another one of my roles, dashing solider and nurse, ready to avenge her best friend.” She had dragged out her words, gesturing with her hands dramatically to emphasize the fact that she was acting. 

He sighed, “I really can’t stop you can I?”

“No, you can’t.” She beamed at him, until he caved and gave a weak smile in return. 

“For Jeremy!”

“For Jeremy” 

“For who?” Some other guard had overheard them, _seriously, does nobody even know his name? ___

__

__

__The Squip smiled to himself in his room. A cool, glowing blue liquid was held in a vial in his hands. “Its only a matter of time before the townspeople find out. Our plan is working perfectly. I even got a new solider, and I didn’t even have to waste any of this” He veld up the vial, “on her. I wonder how they’ll react when they see the king can’t even care for his own son.” He laughed a bit. “Soon they’ll all see who will bring the terrorizing rebels to justice, they’ll come with me, they’ll all be wonderful, just like you, don’t you think?”_ _

__Rich stepped out of the corner of the room,  
“ Absolutely.” he said with a smile._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> o u c h sorry Rich


	5. The Interrogation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! Sorry for not updating sooner and I thank you all for your patience. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Time was non existent underground, you really couldn’t tell the time of day unless you were told at some point, which is how Michael woke up. Jenna had come back from town, planting rumors and hearing what had spread so far. People knew something was off when the Squip’s guards on patrol all gathered at the castle. Soon the town had doubts wether things were really as “normal” as the castle officials had said.

Today was going to be waiting, a lot of waiting. They had decided to wait for Squip to announce what happened ( That would be fun, admitting they let the heir slip through his army’s fingers), announce his “plan of action” and plan how they’d dramatically introduce their hostage to the public. But right now, they had the prince, and it was Chloe’s job to interrogate him, and hopefully gain some sort of advantage. Chloe was the scariest, so they sent her in first. Michael might’ve eavesdropped a little, but hey Chloe was going to have to tell him everything anyway. 

 

Jeremy woke to a kick in the ribs. He groaned, “Christine?” Blinking a few times, he realized that the nightmare he had was no nightmare at all. He was kidnapped last night, and he’s stuck underground with a bunch of bloodthirsty rebels. Oh sh-

“Rise and Shine your highness.” It was the woman from the doorway, staring daggers into him with her eyes. Was she going to be the one to kill him? Send his head to Squip for their revolution? 

“Who- Who are you?” Fear rose in his chest, he had to control it, try to intimidate them, do as Squip said, do not answer anything, even if it costed him. Squip was too important, Squip was too good to Jeremy for him to say anything about him, even if it was to save his life. 

“Not important. What can you tell us about Squip?”

“I have no permission to give you that information.”

“No one down here gives a damn about permission.”

“I’m afraid I cannot tell you, I suggest you hand yourself in before things get worse. One thing I can tell you is he’ll be mad.” He could practically hear Squip’s praise, the kind he got during the drills. 

“Listen, you’re going to tell me what you know, or maybe we won’t be so kind with our ransom announcement.”

He swallowed. _C’mon Jeremy keep it together._ “What do you mean?”

“We could just send them that little crown of yours, orrrr we send them a limb.”

Jeremy whimpered,“I have no permission to give you that information.” He repeated. 

“I don’t want this to be any harder than it has to be.” The woman shot him a fake look of sympathy. 

“I can’t tell you what you want to know.” _Resist._

“Like hell you can.” Turns out her glare wasn’t enough, because she had a literal dagger that she twisted and turned in her hand. 

“Please, I can’t tell you anything.” Jeremy backed up into the corner, he couldn’t run. 

“Last chance.” She walked towards him. 

“I can’t-“

She crouched down to the floor where Jeremy was, he felt her breath on him. He was panicking, her cold gaze, how her leg was _wayyy_ too close, how the metal was pressed so close to his throat. He shut his eyes and ignored how when he spoke it drew a blood, he just needed to remind himself. 

“I have no permission to give you that information, I have no permission to give you that information, I have no permission,-“ he was hyperventilating now. Outside, Michael felt almost bad for him. _Of course he’d been trained for a hostage situation._

“Hm are you right handed? Or left?” She mused. 

“Please! I don’t know anything!” he’d cried.

“You’re the heir to the throne! You expect me to believe that!” She had backed up a little.

“I’m not even allowed to leave the tower!” Jeremy gasped, he said too much, Squip told him specifically not to tell them about how he wasn’t allowed to leave, it was bad for public opinion, it was even better for them to believe the rumors that he was dead. 

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” The prince started crying at this point, his hands covered his mouth, the dagger was sheathed again. 

 

Michael had to do something, freaking him out was only going to make him clam up. _No!_ This was not to be nice it’s just more efficient okay? And maybe he felt guiltier about this than he thought! It was going to be harder to keep up his cocky facade if he was just going to feel bad about it. Michael was cool! He wasn’t sympathetic he was a rebel and especially not to the prince. 

He stood up straighter and opened the cell. A confused Chloe turned to meet him.

“Jenna said she needed to see you, I can take it from here.”

She looked at Michael, then at the Prince, and grumbled “Good luck”. She walked out, and Michael shut the door behind her. He then turned to the sight in the corner.

The Prince was shaking, in the corner, refusing to look at Michael. He looked like a wreck compared to how he looked in his sleep yesterday. His hair stuck up, he was sniffling, eyes wide, a little blood was on his neck, ouch Chloe could be aggressive. 

“Hey, hey, you’re alright. She’s gone, I’m not gonna hurt you.” He’s slowly approached the corner. The prince didn’t look up at him, he walked closer, and then sat on the ground next to him, who didn’t seem to flinch away this time. 

“I can’t tell you anything.” He said.

“I’m not asking you to. I’m going to wipe that blood off you now.” There was no response. Michael pulled a rag out of the side of his belt and gently cleaned it up. He was blushing, but hoped it would be too dark to notice. 

There was a quiet, “Thank you.” and the sniffling died down. 

“What’s your name?”

“Jeremiah.” He stiffened, Michael got him to crack, even if it was just a little. 

He smiled, “Hello Jeremiah.”

“What about yours?” 

Michael decided, screw it if he broke a rule from Squip, Michael would break a rule too.

“I’m Michael.”

“Hello.”

“I’m sorry Chloe scared you.” Okay that was a slip up on his part. 

“You kidnapped me, and held a knife to my throat, and chased me through the castle. Why do you care?”

“That’s fair. I’m not sure, but if you really weren’t allowed to leave you couldn’t have done much harm, so maybe I’m not as vengeful towards you, maybe I’ll be swayed to let you go after all this. I do know Chloe won’t leave you alone unless you tell her what we want to know. Believe me, I’m a lot nicer, so take a chance Jeremiah. You don’t have to say much, you just have to tell us what’s Squip’s up to.”

“I have-“

“No permission, I know. But Squip isn’t here, he can’t say anything, and it would make things a lot easier on you if you told us. Don’t worry, we won’t snitch, Rebel’s honor.” He put his hand over his heart as if to show sincerity. 

Jeremiah seemed to debate this in his head. He glanced down at his hands, and probably following the logic that he likes having both of them, he folded them in his lap.

“Hey, maybe we can turn this into a positive experience for you, I’ll even be your first outsider friend. Just don’t think of me as your captor, but instead your misunderstood bestie from the rebellion.” 

“I’m really not allowed to leave.” He started, Michael perked up. 

“Shame to keep your pretty face hidden from the world.”

Jeremiah seemed at a loss for words at the moment. He continued, “I barely see anyone inside that section of the castle. Only a few maids, my guard, and my teacher.”

“What’s your guards name?”

“Jake”

Michael must’ve looked very shocked, because Jeremiah commented, “Do you know him?” he gasped, “Are you his ex? He mentioned something about an ex that he had to leave behind to serve Squip. It sounded noble, but I’m prettt sure Squip would’ve been okay with him having a boyfriend. I’m really sorry. Is that why you joined the rebellion?” 

“Uh yeah, no,” he coughed uncomfortably. “I’m not his ex, but I knew someone who was. And that’s not why I joined.”

“Why then?”

Michael decided to change the subject, “ What were you told about Squip?” Michael was serious about questioning just exactly how much vengeance he wanted on the deadbeat heir.

“Well, I think he’s a good person. Mr. Reyes, the teacher, he tells me all about Squip’s work, helping the town, keeping me safe, helping my dad rule.”

 _Wow, so the prince never stands up for the people because he’s brainwashed and trapped in the castle?_ Michael felt just a little worse, okay maybe more than that. Maybe he wasn’t so bad, just really, really misinformed.

“What can you tel me about Squip himself, does he have anyone close to him?”

“I-“ Jeremiah screamed, he twitched a little, and grabbed his head like he was in pain. Michael scrambled backward on instinct. Jeremiah panted a little.

“How...How did he know?”

“What the hell was that? Who knows?”

“He knew I was going to talk about him, he knew! Oh my God nonono this can’t be happening I’m so stupid I should’ve known better I should’ve followed the protocol-“ his panic came to an abrupt end, he sucked in a breath. 

“What protocol?”

“I don’t have permission to give you that information.” 

“What did Squip do to you?”

“He takes care of me Squip is good okay! And it’s only a matter of time before he comes for me and maybe I’ll have to be the one sparing you.”

“Everything he told you, he’s making it up.”

“You were nicer, but I was stupid, you’ll only tell me lies, try to get me on your side. I can’t tell you anything, so use me as your ransom and let’s get on with it.” He looked so conflicted, Michael was too. 

“Do you really want to go back Jeremiah?”

A tense silence followed. 

“No, but I miss Jake and Christine, and I don’t want to die in this cell either. ”

“I thought you didn’t care about the kingdom, and now that I know that you do, I can confirm I’m not going to kill you as revenge for Squip’s actions. That’s what he’d want me to do, and I think you’re a decent person, you deserve to know the truth, and then you decide how much you want to cooperate.”

“I already know what I need to.”

“You can’t expect to know everything when everyone you’ve ever talked to has been under Squip’s constant monitoring.”

“I-I want to hear your side then.”

“Great, now where do I start?”

 

 

Jeremy ignored the small signals that fired in his brain, telling him that Michael was lying to him. This was the outside world though, and Jeremy wanted to know what went on out here. His spine trickled with electricity, he listened on. The Squip was good that’s what he was taught, and he needed to stick with what Squip said, or else he’d get hurt and he’d deserve it. He was scared of Squip, he convinced himself it was normal. He just needed to know he was going the right thing. He hated those drills, he hated the castle, he hated this cell, he tried to convince himself he didn’t need to know, but his curiosity tugged on so he kept listening. It helped that the guy in front of him was needlessly attractive, maybe it was just his desperation for someone just to talk to him. The underground was suffocating in a different way. Michael told him everything Squip’s ever done, mind control, murder, forcing kids into his army like a psychopath. Jeremy’s whole reality crumbled around him, there’s no way this could be true, but he couldn’t stop listening. 

“Do you want me to keep going?”

A watery eyed Jeremy replied, “ Yes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I make Jeremy go through so much I’m so sorry. Tell me how I’m doing or anything else you wanna tell me, comments mean the world to me!

**Author's Note:**

> Hey!! This is my first fic ever and I’m super nervous, tell me what you think in the comments dudes!


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